{"id":26241,"date":"2026-05-05T16:08:55","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T14:08:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/?p=26241"},"modified":"2026-05-05T16:10:58","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T14:10:58","slug":"transfer-pricing-the-new-transaction-matrix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/transfer-pricing-the-new-transaction-matrix\/","title":{"rendered":"Transfer Pricing: The new transaction matrix"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"26241\" class=\"elementor elementor-26241\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8d62a30 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"8d62a30\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-96491e4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"96491e4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>In an attempt to simplify the transfer pricing rules for multinational companies the German tax authorities have decided that a local file must only be presented\u00a0<u>on special request<\/u>\u00a0by the tax authorities if the intragroup deliveries of the German entities with foreign related entities exceed 6 million Euros or the intragroup services exceed 600,000 Euros. The deadline for doing so is then 30 days after the request has been received. Despite the presenting deadlines it must be prepared within 6 months after the end of a financial year.<\/p><p>However, other documents must be presented automatically within 30 days after a general tax audit (not a special VAT, wage tax or social security audit) has been received or upon special request. Those documents are:<\/p><p><strong><u>Records of extraordinary business transactions<\/u><\/strong><\/p><ul><li>Business transactions are extraordinary if they go beyond the scope of normal day-to-day business in terms of their nature, content, purpose, scope, or risk, are therefore exceptional in nature, and are of significant importance for the amount of the taxpayer\u2019s income in the year of the extraordinary business transaction or in the future. Examples are the conclusion and amendment of long-term contracts of particular importance, transfer of assets in the course of restructuring, transfer and assignment of economic goods and advantages in connection with significant changes in the company\u2019s functions and risks, business transactions in connection with a change in business strategy that is significant for transfer pricing, conclusion of apportionment agreements.<\/li><\/ul><p><strong><u>A transaction matrix<\/u><\/strong><\/p><ul><li>This is new since 2025. It can be seen as a local file \u201clight\u201d and shall give orientation for the tax auditor if and where in transfer pricing to go into details. It is prepared much faster than a local file and therefore a relief for the taxpayer. Since an audit order issued in 2025 or later regularly also covers audit periods prior to 2025, a transaction matrix must also be created for previous years in these cases.<\/li><li>On 2<sup>nd<\/sup>. April 2025 the German Federal Ministry of Finance published an information sheet on how they want the transaction matrix to look like.<\/li><li>The transaction matrix is a structured, tabular overview containing relevant information on the taxpayer\u2019s cross-border business relationships with related parties and permanent establishments. In particular, it supports risk-oriented case and audit field selection in the context of external audits.<\/li><\/ul><p><strong><u>Components of a transaction matrix<\/u><\/strong><\/p><ul><li>The transaction matrix must specify:<\/li><li>a) the subject matter and type of business transactions (e.g., delivery of goods and ongoing circumstances),<br \/>b) the parties involved in the business transactions, identifying the recipient and provider of services,<br \/>c) the volume and remuneration (in euros) of the business transactions (e.g., loan volume and interest or remuneration for a delivery of goods or service),<br \/>d) the contractual basis (name of the contract document),<br \/>e) the transfer pricing method used (e.g., cost plus method or price comparison method),<br \/>f) the tax jurisdictions concerned, and<br \/>g) whether business transactions are not subject to standard taxation in the relevant tax jurisdiction.<\/li><li>It should be noted that existing contracts only need to be named and do not need to be attached to the transaction matrix. Business transactions are not subject to standard taxation, for example, if a preferential tax regime (e.g., Patent box) applies. Business transactions with a related party or permanent establishment in relation to a tax jurisdiction that are economically comparable in terms of functions and risks may be grouped together for the purpose of preparing records and must be entered accordingly in the transaction matrix (see Section 2 (3) GAufzV).<\/li><li>If the transaction matrix is not submitted, a surcharge of \u20ac5,000 shall be imposed in accordance with Section 162 (4) sentence 1 of the German Fiscal Code (AO). The surcharge shall amount to at least 5 percent and at most 10 percent of the additional income resulting from an adjustment based on the application of paragraph 3, if this results in a surcharge of more than \u20ac5,000.<\/li><li>In the event of late submission of usable records, the surcharge shall be up to EUR 1,000,000, but at least EUR 100 for each full day of delay;<\/li><\/ul><p><strong><u>A master file<\/u><\/strong><\/p><ul><li>This is only applicable for companies with a turnover of 100 million Euros or more in the previous financial year.<\/li><\/ul><p><strong><u>Country-by-Country-Reporting<\/u><\/strong><\/p><ul><li>This is only applicable for companies with a consolidated turnover of 750 million Euros or more in the previous financial year.<\/li><\/ul><p><strong><u>Recommendation:<\/u><\/strong><\/p><p>Transfer pricing documents must be prepared on an ongoing basis and in time and the deadlines for submission are often too short to start working on the documentation after the request has been filed. Taxpayers should take this seriously, as severe penalties may be applied in case on non- or late compliance.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In an attempt to simplify the transfer pricing rules for multinational companies the German tax authorities have decided that a local file must only be presented\u00a0on special request\u00a0by the tax authorities if the intragroup deliveries of the German entities with foreign related entities exceed 6 million Euros or the intragroup services exceed 600,000 Euros. The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[661],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Transfer Pricing: The new transaction matrix - Steuerberatung | Wirtschaftspr\u00fcfung<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Here you can find out what you need to keep in mind regarding transfer pricing documentation so that you can avoid severe penalties.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/transfer-pricing-the-new-transaction-matrix\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Transfer Pricing: The new transaction matrix - Steuerberatung | Wirtschaftspr\u00fcfung\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here you can find out what you need to keep in mind regarding transfer pricing documentation so that you can avoid severe penalties.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/transfer-pricing-the-new-transaction-matrix\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Steuerberatung | Wirtschaftspr\u00fcfung\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Benefitax\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-05T14:08:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-05T14:10:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Eva Sutter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Benefitax\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Benefitax\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Eva Sutter\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.benefitax.de\\\/en\\\/transfer-pricing-the-new-transaction-matrix\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.benefitax.de\\\/en\\\/transfer-pricing-the-new-transaction-matrix\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Eva Sutter\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.benefitax.de\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a182b679890718ec3e3bdff2e686ac1\"},\"headline\":\"Transfer Pricing: The new transaction matrix\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-05T14:08:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-05T14:10:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.benefitax.de\\\/en\\\/transfer-pricing-the-new-transaction-matrix\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":768,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.benefitax.de\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"news\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.benefitax.de\\\/en\\\/transfer-pricing-the-new-transaction-matrix\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.benefitax.de\\\/en\\\/transfer-pricing-the-new-transaction-matrix\\\/\",\"name\":\"Transfer Pricing: The new transaction matrix - Steuerberatung | Wirtschaftspr\u00fcfung\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.benefitax.de\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-05T14:08:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-05T14:10:58+00:00\",\"description\":\"Here you can find out what you need to keep in mind regarding transfer pricing documentation so that you can avoid severe penalties.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.benefitax.de\\\/en\\\/transfer-pricing-the-new-transaction-matrix\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.benefitax.de\\\/en\\\/transfer-pricing-the-new-transaction-matrix\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.benefitax.de\\\/en\\\/transfer-pricing-the-new-transaction-matrix\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Startseite\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.benefitax.de\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Transfer Pricing: The new transaction matrix\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.benefitax.de\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.benefitax.de\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Steuerberatung | Wirtschaftspr\u00fcfung\",\"description\":\"Steuerberater f\u00fcr den Mittelstand und f\u00fcr verm\u00f6gende Privatpersonen\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.benefitax.de\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.benefitax.de\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.benefitax.de\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Steuerberatung | Wirtschaftspr\u00fcfung\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.benefitax.de\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.benefitax.de\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.benefitax.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/12\\\/Logo2009_RGB_0_81_205-300x120-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.benefitax.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/12\\\/Logo2009_RGB_0_81_205-300x120-1.jpg\",\"width\":300,\"height\":120,\"caption\":\"Steuerberatung | Wirtschaftspr\u00fcfung\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.benefitax.de\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/Benefitax\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/Benefitax\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.xing.com\\\/pages\\\/benefitaxgmbh\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.benefitax.de\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a182b679890718ec3e3bdff2e686ac1\",\"name\":\"Eva Sutter\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f4efadb019329f9ee5958be2037ee1faeb76c5f256cbc79b8dff7898bf3496d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f4efadb019329f9ee5958be2037ee1faeb76c5f256cbc79b8dff7898bf3496d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f4efadb019329f9ee5958be2037ee1faeb76c5f256cbc79b8dff7898bf3496d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Eva Sutter\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.benefitax.de\\\/en\\\/author\\\/eva\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Transfer Pricing: The new transaction matrix - Steuerberatung | Wirtschaftspr\u00fcfung","description":"Here you can find out what you need to keep in mind regarding transfer pricing documentation so that you can avoid severe penalties.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/transfer-pricing-the-new-transaction-matrix\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Transfer Pricing: The new transaction matrix - Steuerberatung | Wirtschaftspr\u00fcfung","og_description":"Here you can find out what you need to keep in mind regarding transfer pricing documentation so that you can avoid severe penalties.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/transfer-pricing-the-new-transaction-matrix\/","og_site_name":"Steuerberatung | Wirtschaftspr\u00fcfung","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Benefitax\/","article_published_time":"2026-05-05T14:08:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-05T14:10:58+00:00","author":"Eva Sutter","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Benefitax","twitter_site":"@Benefitax","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Eva Sutter","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/transfer-pricing-the-new-transaction-matrix\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/transfer-pricing-the-new-transaction-matrix\/"},"author":{"name":"Eva Sutter","@id":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/2a182b679890718ec3e3bdff2e686ac1"},"headline":"Transfer Pricing: The new transaction matrix","datePublished":"2026-05-05T14:08:55+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-05T14:10:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/transfer-pricing-the-new-transaction-matrix\/"},"wordCount":768,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/#organization"},"articleSection":["news"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/transfer-pricing-the-new-transaction-matrix\/","url":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/transfer-pricing-the-new-transaction-matrix\/","name":"Transfer Pricing: The new transaction matrix - Steuerberatung | Wirtschaftspr\u00fcfung","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-05-05T14:08:55+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-05T14:10:58+00:00","description":"Here you can find out what you need to keep in mind regarding transfer pricing documentation so that you can avoid severe penalties.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/transfer-pricing-the-new-transaction-matrix\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/transfer-pricing-the-new-transaction-matrix\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/transfer-pricing-the-new-transaction-matrix\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Startseite","item":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Transfer Pricing: The new transaction matrix"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/","name":"Steuerberatung | Wirtschaftspr\u00fcfung","description":"Steuerberater f\u00fcr den Mittelstand und f\u00fcr verm\u00f6gende Privatpersonen","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/#organization","name":"Steuerberatung | Wirtschaftspr\u00fcfung","url":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Logo2009_RGB_0_81_205-300x120-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Logo2009_RGB_0_81_205-300x120-1.jpg","width":300,"height":120,"caption":"Steuerberatung | Wirtschaftspr\u00fcfung"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Benefitax\/","https:\/\/x.com\/Benefitax","https:\/\/www.xing.com\/pages\/benefitaxgmbh"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/2a182b679890718ec3e3bdff2e686ac1","name":"Eva Sutter","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f4efadb019329f9ee5958be2037ee1faeb76c5f256cbc79b8dff7898bf3496d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f4efadb019329f9ee5958be2037ee1faeb76c5f256cbc79b8dff7898bf3496d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f4efadb019329f9ee5958be2037ee1faeb76c5f256cbc79b8dff7898bf3496d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Eva Sutter"},"url":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/author\/eva\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26241"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26245,"href":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26241\/revisions\/26245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benefitax.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}